Hearing Set for Deputy Attorney General

By Carrie Johnson
The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing Feb. 5 on the nomination of David W. Odgen to serve as the Justice Department's second in command.

Ogden, a partner at the WilmerHale law firm in Washington, had previously led the department's civil division and managed the office of then-Attorney General Janet Reno as her chief of staff. During his time at the Justice Department during the Clinton era, Ogden famously advanced the government's landmark lawsuit against big tobacco companies.

In private practice, he has defended a host of companies in industries from airlines to technology. Ogden's nomination drew letters of support from former GOP Senate aide Manus Cooney, the National Association of Police Organizations, former State Department legal adviser John Bellinger and several judge advocates general.

The deputy attorney general post for which Ogden has been nominated is among the most critical but little noticed in the 110,000 person department. If confirmed by the Senate, Ogden essentially will act as the Justice Department's chief operating officer and regularly will be called upon to resolve conflicts between divisions and U.S. attorneys over corporate prosecutions and other high-profile cases.

Meanwhile, the full Senate appears poised to vote on the nomination of Eric H. Holder Jr. to become the nation's first African American attorney general as early as Monday, according to congressional aides. The Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday approved Holder's bid in a 17 to 2 vote, shrugging off concerns and a week-long delay imposed by GOP leaders.

Another BIG mistake for Obama..Is there no end to it...?? Ogden’s record is nothing short of obscene. He has represented Playboy Enterprises in multiple cases, Penthouse Magazine, the ACLU, and the largest distributor of hard-core pornography videos. He has opposed filters on library computers protecting children from Internet smut, and successfully defended the right of pornographers to produce material with underage children.

Where is the mention of Mr. Ogen's litigation in numerous obscenity and pornography cases on behalf of clients like Playboy, Penthouse, the ACLU and the largest distributor of hardcore pornographic movies? Where is the mention of Mr. Ogden's filing briefs in opposition to parental notification before a minor’s abortion, spousal notification before an abortion as well as the Children’s Internet Protection Act and the Child Protection and Obscenity Enforcement Act?

D.O.J. must move swiftly to dismantle the nationwide extrajudicial punishment network of citizen vigilantes and federal security/intel/law enforcement operatives which has made a mockery of the judicial system for the past eight years.

Crimes against humanity are being committed across the nation via the use of so-called "directed energy weapons" which the Bush D.O.J. recently confirmed are being widely deployed to police forces nationwide.

These RADIATION weapons emit silent, pulsed bursts of various forms of radiation -- and are degrading and damaging the health of those on the receiving end as well as their operators.

This weaponry has NO PLACE in civilized society -- much in the hands of security personnel who interact with the public.

The widespread deployment of this weaponry virtually assures its misuse. Imagine if rogue actors tried to use its silent, deadly force to induce illness or to disable our political leaders.

Perhaps they already have.

Please, Mr. Odgen, read this article. The victims of "The American Gestapo" continue to suffer. This journalist is among them, and I am prepared to give full testimony.